Work stress, life stress, can throw your self-care way off track. How do you avoid the cycle?

Stress at work… stress at home… and ignoring your self-care routine. Does this cycle sound familiar?

It seems that we humans have a way of putting ourselves on a treadmill as we try to react to all the demands around us, often starting with the job. As a result, our own needs can end up in last place. We forget that only by managing our self-care can we be truly effective in our jobs and in our home life. And so the negative cycle begins.

It also seems to me that once you let your self-care sit up on the shelf while you scramble around trying to respond to all those competing demands, it’s all too easy to leave it sitting there. Operating in stress mode can start to feel normal. But whether you’re aware of it or not, operating in stress mode, and neglecting self-care, can lead to feeling more and more depleted, which can lead to burnout. If you are feeling burned out, you may be even more likely to neglect your self-care. Your emotional and physical health is at risk!

Another consequence: When your self-care routine is off the rails, it may seem that much harder to start up again. The cycle continues…

Here’s the bottom line. If you let work stress get in the way of taking good care of yourself, you run the risk of being less able to cope effectively. As a result, stress leads to more stress.